1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method for determining differentiation level of pluripotent stem cells.
2. Background Art
An embryonic stem cell has a pluripotency to differentiate into various cells, so that its application to repair or regeneration of various tissues is expected in the field of regenerative medicine, for example. Since cells derived from a fetus are used, however, its practical application in the medicine is presumably difficult because of limited cell source, controversial ethical questions, and the like. In order to solve such problems, an induced Pluripotent Stem cell (hereinafter also referred to as “iPS cell”) has been developed. An iPS cell is a pluripotent stem cell artificially induced from an adult cell, which has an ability of self-replication and pluripotency. Since an iPS cell is induced from an adult cell, the cell source is relatively more abundant than that of an embryonic stem cell, and further there are few ethical questions, which makes its application in the regenerative medicine or the like more suitable.